Kat Eye Studio

by

Where I Sit

This is where I love to sit, under my happy cat quilt my Mom made me, reading in the natural light of our big window, with the cat on my lap and a cup of tea on the table beside me. If I’m at home, you can usually find me in this spot or at the computer. (OK, lately, more at the computer.)

This photo was taken today for the online class “Picture Fall” through Big Picture Classes. It’s a photography prompt every day for the month of October, to celebrate the change of season and get you out and photographing. I’ve realized lately that, while I am loving the travel photography, I’m not doing so much “every day” photography and I’m in a bit of a rut. So you’ll see these images creep into the blog I’m sure, along with the normal photos of various places I visit. I’m taking this with my fellow muses and other online friends so it will be fun to have this virtual community all in class together.

(Oh, and thank you for all of the well wishes yesterday. I am feeling much better today! So nice to have all of these people out there hoping you feel better.)

by

Good Medicine

Today I am not feeling so well, so I went to my photo folder with the desire to find a photo that would calm my stomach. Yes, I meant that, calm my stomach. Looking at images of beer from Oktoberfest just wasn’t going to work this morning. And I found this one, of a sculpture in Barcelona. Just lines and light and sky.

Guess what? I feel better already.

by

Share Your View: Night Photography

Aaaaah, night in Venice. Magical. This was the lone gondolier at midnight, available for a night time gondola ride through the city. I love the quietness this image conveys. No ripples in the water. The line of gondolas parked for the night. The waiting gondolier. So fun to share these little slices of night with you.

And, as promised, it’s time to share your view of night! You’ve had a week since the Exploring with a Camera: Night Photography post to look back at your past night shots and or maybe try a few for the first time. All you need to do is fill out the widget below (you may have to click over to the actual blog, if it’s not visible in your reader) with your name and a link to your photos. Please link directly to the blog post or Flickr photo intended, because a general link to a blog or photostream will have content changing all of the time and we might not be able to find the image we were meant to see if we come by later. (Because for some of us, I won’t name any specific names, we’re always behind on our blog reading and we don’t want to miss these.)

I look forward to seeing your little slices of night! Please visit around and share some comments with your fellow photogs as well. A fun way to find new friends.

by

Surprising Traditions

One of the things that is so wonderful about visiting something famous like Oktoberfest, in person, is that you get to see beyond the cliches to find other surprising details. Like these gingerbread cookies. These were sold everywhere around Oktoberfest. Most of these had little messages and notes of love frosted into them, from “I love you” and “I’m a princess” to “I’m single,” and you were them strung on a ribbon like a necklace.

These are part of the festival tradition, a badge of honor that says, “I was at Oktoberfest today.” Most kids had them on as they left for home, riding the U-bahn and fidgeting with the cookies. They are clearly also part of the local courtship rituals, with men and women walking hand in hand, in their lederhosen and dirndls, wearing giant cookies (literally, more than a foot across some of these) with messages that proclaim a relationship.

Here is our “little prince” with this cookie, we couldn’t miss out on this tradition ourselves. We tried the gingerbread cookie later, and to be honest, it wasn’t that great to us. But I bet to those who have grown up with Oktoberfest, it’s the taste of a season they relish.

Who knew? And you probably thought Oktoberfest was all about beer. (Don’t worry, it still is, those images will come too!)

by

The Power of Persistence

Nothing in this world can take the place of Persistance.
Talent will not; nothing is more commonplace than unsuccessful men with talent.
Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb.
Education alone will not; the world is full of educated derelicts.
Persistance and Determination alone are omnipotent.
                                                   – Calvin Coolidge

Isn’t that a wonderful messsage? Persistance is the key. You might not be the most talented, a genius, have the “right” education… but none of those things in itself is the key to success. It is true isn’t it? So when we tell ourselves that we don’t have what it takes to reach our dreams, when we compare to others and say “I don’t have the education” or “They are so much more talented,” we need to stop and remember this message:

“Persistance and Determination alone are omnipotent.”

And continue working onward, upward toward our dreams.

P.S. Today is one of those “out of the blue” blog posts, that I find myself drawn to writing instead of what was planned. Maybe I’ll be inspired to write about Oktoberfest tomorrow. 🙂

by

Beautiful Morning

Another texture play day! This is one of the photographs I took but decided not to use for my Mortal Muses post today, for the theme “Morning.” Pop on over there to see the photo I did choose and the poem that I wrote on this journal page. But I thought I would share this one here today, as another experiment in using textures from Kim Klassen. For this image I used her “Autumn” and “Wet Tile” textures, both blended using Soft Light. I like how it softened the image, giving it a more contemplative feel, which is what I was going for in the shot. Original image is below for comparison.

See you all again on Tuesday, with photos from Oktoberfest!